Confessor
Confessor Paphnutius the Confessor, Bishop of the Thebaid
IV в. (участник I Вселенского Собора, 325)
Confessor Paphnutius of the Thebaid — an Egyptian bishop who lost an eye and was maimed in a leg during torture in the Maximinus Daza persecution, a participant of the First Ecumenical Council at Nicaea (325), where he spoke against introducing mandatory celibacy for clergy; one of three distinct saints named Paphnutius in this batch of the database (of Jerusalem, of the Thebaid, and the Ascetic) — each confirmed to be genuinely independent.
IMPORTANT DATE CORRECTION: the previously listed date "September 25" was not confirmed — research shows it actually belongs to a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT, fourth saint of this name — St. Paphnutius of Tentyra, not included in this batch of the database. The correct date for Paphnutius of the Thebaid is September 11/24.
Confessor Paphnutius, bishop of a city in Upper Egypt (the Thebaid), suffered during the persecution of Emperor Maximinus Daza (r. 308–313): his right eye was gouged out and the tendon of his left leg was cut, after which he was sent to forced labor in the mines, where he continued to strengthen other confessors in the faith.
He participated in the First Ecumenical Council at Nicaea (325) among the confessors who had suffered for the faith. According to the church historian Socrates Scholasticus, at the Council he spoke against a proposal to introduce mandatory celibacy for married clergy, insisting on preserving the apostolic custom allowing married clergymen who had wed before ordination to continue conjugal life — his position was accepted by the Council.
His feast is kept on September 11/24.